CAIRO: The first appeal session of imprisoned blogger on hunger strike Maikel Nabil was adjourned to Oct.11 because the file case was not in court when the session opened, according to Maikel’s brother Mark.
Maikel was sentenced to three years in prison by a military court on charges of insulting the armed forces and spreading false news in a blog post published last March titled "The army and the people are not one hand".
"The judge said that the case file is not in front of him, so he cannot rule on a case without the file," Mark said, adding that his brother, who has been on hunger strike for 43 days, refused to attend the appeal session to protest the fact that he is being tried in a military court.
"Adjourning the case one more week means a death sentence to my brother who is in a deteriorating health condition. He only drinks water because he suffers from kidney failure," Mark said.
"If nothing happens in his appeal, he will even stop drinking water," he added.
Around 30 protesters appeared in front of C28, the headquarters of the military prosecution where the trial is held, in support of Maikel, when two protesters, Sahar Maher and Magdy Kamel, were detained and interrogated by military prosecution on charges of filming in front of a military zone.
Both were released pending their next trial session on Oct.11.
Meanwhile, 11 protesters arrested in front of Ministry of Defense (MOD) on Friday after clashes with military police officers were referred to a military court Tuesday for allegedly assaulting military officers, attacking military buildings, and vandalizing Kobri El-Kobba metro station.
Their first trial session is also set for Oct.11.
